Playing for Freedom by Zarifa Adiba and Anne Chaon is an inspiring and deeply moving memoir that recounts the remarkable journey of Zarifa, a young girl from Afghanistan, as she navigates the challenging terrain of her culture, family, and societal expectations to pursue her passion for music. Born into a conservative family that adhered to strict interpretations of Islamic law, Zarifa’s love for music was seen as rebellious and forbidden, making her path fraught with danger and resistance.

From an early age, Zarifa faced adversity, losing her father and living in poverty under the control of her stepfather's family. Despite these obstacles, her determination led her to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, a beacon of hope in a war-torn country where women were often marginalized. Zarifa’s story highlights the courage it takes to defy cultural norms and pursue one’s dreams in the face of systemic oppression. Through her passion for music, Zarifa found an outlet for self-expression and a means to break free from the constraints imposed on her by both family and society.

The memoir not only provides a personal account of Zarifa’s struggles but also paints a vivid picture of life in Afghanistan before the Taliban regained power in 2021. It offers an unflinching look at the realities faced by Afghan women, who are subjected to gender-based violence, societal expectations of submission, and the looming threat of forced marriages. Zarifa’s perseverance and resilience stand out as she refuses to let these barriers define her future.

Her journey is not just one of personal growth but also of broader significance for Afghan women and girls who dream of a different life. The narrative is written with a raw honesty that brings to light the stark contrasts between Zarifa’s aspirations and the harsh realities of life under oppressive regimes. Her experiences serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of art, music, and education as tools for liberation and change.

Playing for Freedom is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Zarifa’s story is one of triumph over adversity, and her voice resonates as a symbol of resilience, courage, and the desire for freedom. It is a must-read for anyone looking to understand the complexities of life in Afghanistan, especially for women who strive to carve out their own paths in a world determined to hold them back.

What an amazing book on growing up a girl in Afghanistan, the courage and perseverance to not just get an education but to then lead an all-female orchestra. Amazing!

<i><b>Playing for Freedom: The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl</i></b> is Zarifa Adiba's story of the experiences she went through as a young girl growing to her teens in war-torn Afghanistan. Music saw her through all her challenges - singing, listening, teaching herself with every shred of music that came her way. By means surprising and unexpected she would find ways to learn the next new bit, and as they do, miracles beget miracles and Zarifa found herself in possession of a viola. From there came the quest to become more than just a player - she wanted to conduct and soar with her music. That is a challenge in any life - but in Afghanistan where all power is jealously held by a small minority who have no qualms about wiping out those who insist on some independence being a girl, a growing woman, wanting education, wanting a voice. . .Zarifa was pushed back at every turn.

As I read I found myself tensely perched on the edges of chairs, beds, at tables with fists clenched as I listened. Zarifa was unsupported at home - mostly - and barely supported in the community, often attacked, left standing abandoned at times amidst predatory people, my heart ached for her. In a way, though, it was a comfort having the book, as the book itself - her story on its own testified of her success and personal victories. But as she claimed that win, I heard the worries and concerns that underscored all her words: what about the rest of the girls in that land? Women are more than breeding stock, which seems to be the limited role they've been allowed. Seriously - "allowed." (!) Zarifa fights back, and continues to, but has to do it from afar. I share her hope for Afghanistan to regain its former balance, peace and the security for every member of its land, to regain a measure of freedom for all. If a girl or boy wants to play a viola, or a piano, or drum. . .to read a book, write a book. . .to have a child or not have a child. . .to be a national leader or a school teacher. . .they should have that opportunity without facing abuse and persecution.

Zarifa Adiba is a hero! Her story is inspiring and her willing, soaring heart and dedication is a blessing to all the women of the world, those living now and those who will follow in the future. All the stars for Zarifa, for Zohra and the musicians who make the songs fly!

*A sincere thank you to Zarifa Adiba, Anne Chaon, Brilliance Publishing, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

This book reminded me that sometimes we take for granted the freedoms we have. Because even if we fail, we had the freedom to try and that is hard to wrap our heads around. In the minds of many Americans failure is not an option but we forget how we got there, and that failure is ok, the hard part is getting up again and finding a different road because we have the freedom to write our own story.

Playing for Freedom is one Afghan girl's musical journey and the courage to change her life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for copy of this story for my honest review.

eally liked it

The tagline manages to encompass exactly what this book is about. Zarifa is a musician foremost and it's not something that is easy to be in Afghanistan, even before the current rulers took over.

I wanted to read this book because it provides a window into an almost ordinary(but not quite) girl who fights for what she wants. Things don't always go her way, but she manages to make her mark.

The book begins with our author already in the orchestra that defines her future in several ways. Then we are provided a look at the state of things within the country and within her family. Her family are not entirely supportive of her and this causes her distress at several levels.

Unlike other books, here we even get to see the simple things that people have to do to gain scholarships and the options open for studies based on their situations. Zarifa has some good people in her life who helped her advance on her dreams.

The book ends with links as to where we can see or read any of the things mentioned in the text. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Afghanistan and memoirs of young contemporary people.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This is a story of absolute grit and determination in Afghanistan. Adiba not only has no instrument, but is not permitted to practise at home. Growing up, even getting the bus fare to go to the music school was a challenge, and so she walked to the school, which took two HOURS every morning. Her only alternative, other than achieving the impossible dream of performing, is marriage. Yet, even without support from her family, her determination takes her to heights she never imagined. If you read the book, look her up and the group ‘Zohra’ on YouTube to watch their performances!

I really enjoyed the look inside the life of a young, aspiring, female musician growing up in Afghanistan. It is told in first person and the audiobook is read by the author which adds to its authenticity. It was interesting to learn of the customs, traditions, religious beliefs and how the western world seems so rebellious. I was interested to hear that despite the difficulties, the author loves her homeland and longs for a day when freedom arrives.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read it in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Honest, informative, and inspiring!

Playing for Freedom is the insightful, intriguing story of Zarifa Adiba’s personal hardships, struggles, successes and accomplishments as a woman and musician born and raised in a country that is riddled with oppression, war and strict religious rule.

The writing is genuine and perceptive. And the novel is an introspective, compelling tale of one woman’s life from being a child raised in a blended family to believing in herself, taking chances, and following her dreams.

Overall, Playing for Freedom is a forthright, passionate, absorbing tale by Adiba that covers such an abundance of themes that, as a fellow woman, it was easy to root for her, appreciate, and be thoroughly captivated by her story.

"Playing for Freedom The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl", by Zarifa Adiba and Anne Chaon, is the story of Zarifa Adiba, the lead violist and co-conductor of Afghanistan’s all-female orchestra, "Zohra". Zarifa is an ambitious and inspiring young woman who fought against all odds to fulfill her dreams of playing music and studying, resisting family and societal pressure.

The book was truly unputdownable. Zarifa is a young girl with typical youthful passions, like listening to and playing music and hanging out with her friends. However, she lives in a country where those passions are not only considered sinful but can endanger her life. She takes pride in not conforming but lives in fear of the consequences that could bring for her and her family. I found the storytelling in the book to be very captivating. It is a good balance of personal narrative and historical/political context that had my attention through the whole book. After finishing the book, I watched several clips and interviews with Zarifa, including her TedEX talk and the "bad girl" video referenced in the book, as well as clips of Zohra performing at Davos. They were all uplifting and inspirational.

The only other books I read about Afghanistan are the works of Khaled Hosseini, which I've really enjoyed. It was refreshing ,though, to hear the voice of a strong-willed woman, fighting for her own life and paving the way for other women.

Reading this in 2024, however, almost 3 years after Kabul fell to the Taliban, I felt very uneasy. Throughout the whole book, Zarifa is a fighter and never gives in to hopelessness. Yet, the present situation of women and girls in Afghanistan feels hopeless. This is addressed in the "Afterword", that the author hoped never to have to include. She is poised to keep fighting, even more than before, and urges everyone to stand for the women and girls of Afghanistan.

Thank you so much to @otrpr for inviting me on this blog tour and gifting me a beautiful, finished copy of Zarifa’s story. I was deeply moved and inspired by Zarifa's life and felt like I learned a lot. I hope she continues her journey to give voice to and uplift girls and women.

Prior to reading Playing for Freedom, I had only read one book set in or about Afghanistan: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. However, this is my first nonfiction and memoir, and I was intrigued to learn about Afghanistan today from the perspective of a young woman.

The memoir begins with a triumph in Zarifa Adiba’s young life: her opportunity to serve as orchestra conductor for the all-girls Afghan orchestra on a trip to Davos, Switzerland. Not only was the performance a success, the interviews Zarifa gave were eye-opening to non-Afghans around the world. But upon returning to Kabul, Afghanistan, Zarifa still had a long road ahead of her on her journey to achieving her many goals.

From here, Playing for Freedom dives into different aspects of Afghanistan’s culture and politics, as well as Zarifa’s own family circumstances. She talks about the extremist conservative society, which puts so many limits on women and considers music a sin. She also describes her complicated, often toxic family, from her fraught relationship with her mother to her frequently being passed around from one household to another. It’s often heartbreaking to learn how isolating and unsupportive her family could be, largely due to the societal views on women. Zarifa would sometimes stay with family in Pakistan, but her home was ultimately still in Kabul.

I love how Zarifa is such a strong-willed and confident young woman. She is still Muslim, like most in Afghanistan, but she takes on a more liberal and modern approach to her faith. She doesn’t see music as a sin, nor does she think women’s hair being visible should be considered scandalous. By her society’s standards, Zarifa is a “bad girl” and proud of it. She is also an unapologetic feminist who believes in the power of education and emancipating women and girls throughout her country. I enjoyed hearing about her admiration for Michelle Obama and how the former First Lady was a role model for Zarifa. Seeing other trailblazers can be so inspiring in forging your own path!

There were major hurdles to overcome during Zarifa’s childhood and early adulthood, from family issues to the devastating effects of violence in Afghanistan, but I love how she overwhelming takes an optimistic and hopeful view, both about the future of Afghanistan and of her own goals.

Playing for Freedom is an inspiring and eye-opening account of one brave young woman. Zarifa Adiba believes in Afghan women becoming true equals in society, being allowed to get an education, and being allowed to play music and sports without derision. I appreciated learning more about Afghanistan from a young person’s perspective, and I admire the author’s vision and leadership.

Zarifa lives in Afghanistan, where women are regarded as property, to be sold or married off. Girls do not have the same privileges as boys; very few go to school. Music is forbidden. A girl like Zarifa who dares to dream, to go against the grain, to pursue an education, escape her family's marriage schemes, and ultimately find her own place in the world, will be mocked or even killed.
I enjoyed learning Zarifa's story-how she enrolled in an Afghan musical school despite the risks and how she visited Yale during her orchestra's trip to the United States.
I was honestly worried she was going to turn liberal simply because of the extreme rules she lived under in Afghanistan, but this never ended up really being an issue.
She does identify herself as a Muslim, which might deter some people from reading the story.

Overall, though, I did enjoy the story.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book.

I enjoyed this memoir! I am grateful to be able to gain a better understanding of what life was/is like for a girl in Afghanistan.

Playing for Freedom by Zarifa Adiba; Anne Chaon is a compelling story about the Journey of a Young Afghan Girl.
This book was very well written. I loved Zarifa‘s writing style. Her descriptions were so vivid that I felt as though I were in the scenes with her characters.

Thank You NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This is a passionate memoir written by Zarifa Adiba describing her upbringing in Afghanistan in the period before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. As a child her life was difficult, her father dead and her mother remarried to his nephew with four younger half siblings, all living in poverty under the control of her father’s family. Zarifa’s passion to music led her led her to study at the co-educational Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul, founded in 2010 after 30 years of war, by a wonderful musician, Dr Ahmad Sarmast, on his return from asylum in Australia. As Zarifa’s father’s family considered both co-education and the playing of non-religious music to be against Islamic law, she had to keep this a secret from them.

Zarifa’s remarkable memoir paints a vivid picture of life in Afghanistan before the Taliban returned to power. Even then life was difficult for women who didn’t conform to strict Islamic laws. They were subject to hatred, verbal and often physical abuse by men. Zarifa’s life was especially difficult, especially after her step-father Basir travelled to Indonesia to wait unsuccessfully for years for a visa to Australia. As well as attending school she had to work to provide for her mother and younger half siblings, but instead of being appreciated, she was reviled and cruelly treated by her mother as the cause of her problems and often sent away for long periods, disrupting her education.

A remarkably brave and resilient young woman, faced with all these difficulties, she persevered with her dreams to forge a path she hoped other young women could follow, not knowing that these hopes and dreams for her country were about to be set back centuries by the return of the Taliban. Her story is passionately told and her voice resonates strongly through the narrative. Originally published in 2021 in French, the English translation is now being published, along with an afterword by Zarifa, now living in America and pursuing her dreams.

Usually, I don't really read much Nonfiction books, but I do read memoirs, and if it sounds interesting or written by someone famous, then I would read. Initially, I thought this was a fiction until I actually did a search on this book, when I realized that this was actually a memoir about a young Afghan girl, who would work tirelessly and endlessly, clashing with the Afghan culture to fulfill her dreams of becoming a musician and going to the university.

If you have read I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, then I highly recommend that you should read this book.

Zarifa is an ambitious Afghan woman who comes from a poor Hazara family. At sixteen, Zarifa joins Afghanistan National Institute of Music. By eighteen, she is the lead violinist, conductor of the all women orchestra named Zohra and one of their performances including performing in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. But despite Zohra's hard success and achievement, most of the girls that Zarifa knows are forced into arranged marriages. Zarifa also faced many obstacles from her family, who shunned her for her keen interest in music and the fact that she was defiant and refused to cover her hair and marry someone like her cousins. Playing for Freedom talks about how Zarifa yearned for independence and study at the university and how she overcame many obstacles to succeed as a person she is today.

I am not going to put too much details but this is a beautifully written memoir and I was glad to get a privilege to read this memoir. The way women were treated in Afghanistan in a men dominated world, the Taliban rule...sometimes, it's hard to imagine that cruelty can exist. I enjoyed reading this book and was glad that now Zarifa and her family are now living in New York away from now Taliban rule Afghanistan.

Overall I rate this book five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Amazon for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Posted on Goodreads 4/12/2024. Will post on Amazon on release day.

This was a very inspiring memoir to read. This book follows Zarifa as she tries to pursue her dreams of being a musician while getting major backlash from her family and society in Afghanistan. Throughout the book, Zarifa discusses the Taliban, sexism, violence against women and Muslims, family pressure and disappointment, and how she withstood all of that to follow her dreams. This was a very powerful story, and I think this book is so important for everyone to read to understand what things are like in a community that faces ongoing brutality and political issues. This book will inform you of a community that might be different than your own, and it also is very inspirational for women who have dreams and aspirations that their family and/or society might not fully support. I appreciate how Zarifa shows resistance and strength throughout this book and still makes her dreams come true. I also appreciate that she spreads awareness across many platforms for what people go through in her home country.

Zarifa is a girl how as born in Afghanistan and has so many things stacked against her - like many Afghan Women. She joins a music school and learns the viola. That school and music unlock many opportunities for her future, despite her family/men/society not approving. She made so many choices to overcome the things stacked against her. She’s an inspiration to women everywhere and especially to women who live in Afghanistan and have the same kind of daily struggles.

Zarifa, if you read this, thank you for sharing your story.

#PlayingforFreedom #NetGalley

I love extraordinary tales of triumph!

This thought-provoking memoir from a debut author is one you’ll want on your reading list ASAP.

Zarifa Adiba had a dream so big, it was scary - she wanted to be a concert musician.

That doesn’t sound too much of a stretch for some of us who are musically inclined, does it?! (tongue in cheek) But to a child born in Kabul, Afghanistan, a FEMALE born in one of the worst places to be a female, it was an uphill battle. Firstly, she was female. Secondly, she was Hazara, an oppressed Shiite minority. Her family was poor and uneducated. Thirdly, music was considered sinful under Islamic law. Fourthly, she had no prior background in music; never played and never read music.

None of these stopped her from dreaming.

She prepared tirelessly.

She overcame challenges, defied societal norms and stereotypes in her deeply conservative and patriarchal society, and went on to accumulate many, many ‘firsts.’ Her courage and passion for music in the face of significant obstacles will astound you. In our part of the world, her achievements make her a star, but in her home country, it made her a target and she had to flee for her life.

Music offered Zarifa a chance to blossom, to escape, to have a future, and to show herself, her family, her country and the rest of the world what Afghan women are capable of doing. It saddens me to (1) think that despite all her achievements, her new identity now “puts her at odds with her culture and her family” and (2) that she couldn’t receive the support she needed from her parents because the regime had beaten their dreams out of them. I have so very much to be thankful for and I take it for granted.

I appreciated a look at her home life, her school experience, and her achievements. This book left me wanting more and I’ve queued up some TedTalks and articles to help flesh out my experience and answer some questions.

I was gifted this copy by Amazon Crossing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I want to thank netgalley for an advanced ARC of this novel

This is a memoir of Zarifa and her life in afangastan & how music was so important to her seeing her journey from high school to collage, Michelle Obama inspired her and I always belive that everyone should have someone who inspires them to do or become better. I had fun reading this though my kindle and I would definitely say its worth the read

As a young music student, Adiba's concern was not how to find time to practice or whether she could afford a better instrument—both owning her own instrument and practicing at home were unthinkable. This was Afghanistan, after all, and music was at best distrusted. People who played music were distrusted. *Girls* who played music were distrusted. Adiba held fast to her dreams of playing viola for Afghanistan and for the world, but every day was a challenge.

"In those days," writes Adiba, "I had so little money that I couldn't even afford the ten afghanis (less than four American cents) it took to take the bus to music school. Instead, I walked for two hours every morning, from home to the ANIM, pacing along the damaged sidewalks of Kabul and crisscrossing the dusty city where high concrete walls had gradually sprung up in response to various threats, and to protect against explosions." (loc. 104*)

Adiba's story takes place before the Taliban took power in Kabul. She discusses this takeover at the beginning and end of the book, but for most of the book she is in an Afghanistan with some bare bones of possibility. Make no mistake: she had just about nothing easy. Start with being a girl in Afghanistan and add in poverty, and living with relatives who didn't want her family there, and a mother pushed to the breaking point by her own hard life—and then multiply that by, say, the pressure to get married to a man, *any* man, and turn away from any kind of freedom in exchange for a constrained and compliant life.

"Everyone around me seemed genuinely hopeful that I would go with him, settle in his village, and stay locked in his house, having children and doing chores for the rest of my life. The worst part was my mother seemed delighted at the prospect, which only reinforced my despair and sense of abandonment." (loc. 1262)

It's a journey full of impossible choices. I wouldn't have minded a more chronological structure—it's largely chronological, but with frequent zigzags—or more about Adiba's daily life in Afghanistan: what home looked like, what a school day looked like, how it felt to leave the viola at school at the end of each day and pick it up again in the morning. Most of what I've read about Afghanistan is from the perspective of outsiders, and I'd have loved to see it better through Adiba's eyes. Her experience was unusual, too, in that although her family was poor she managed some travel, in and outside of the Middle East, while still quite young; among other things, she lived at various times in Pakistan, and I'd love to know more about how she experienced the differences of living there.

In many ways what interests me most is the way Adiba talks about her mother's life—with frustration, sometimes, and with hurt, because her mother was not always able to offer the kinds of emotional support that Adiba needed. But their stories are illustrative of two different ways in which women in oppressive societies struggle—Adiba, young and fighting to be allowed to follow her dreams; her mother, long since having lost sight of her own dreams and also unable to trust in her daughter's. It's a complicated story, and I'm glad it's been translated for an English-speaking audience.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.